


Nemesis

by 00AwkwardPenguin00



Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [10]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: #Yuyan Raise Zuko, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, S1Ep10 "Jet", Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko meets Jet, Zuko's just joined the Gaang and is still figuring things out, and is completely turned off, and this came out, both in terms of canon and this series, but someone asked on tumblr, slightly out of continuity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22213618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00
Summary: Something about Jet is justoff. Yeah, he's got skills, and a flair for the dramatic that Zuko can appreciate, but seriously, the guy isweird. Can they go now?Zuko meets Jet, and is not impressed.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384
Comments: 109
Kudos: 4246
Collections: Finished111





	Nemesis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> So I got this [ask](https://awkwardpenguinproductions.tumblr.com/post/190183027631/okay-im-sure-youve-gotten-asked-about-this) on Tumblr at like 12:30am yesterday morning, and by 1am I had about half of this written. Here is the final, polished version!

The smarmy jerk’s got style, Zuko will give him that. He still rubs Zuko the wrong way––instincts honed over years spent in the company of soldiers recognize bloodlust regardless of how well it disguises itself under smooth charm. He and Sokka exchange irritated glances, but both Aang and Katara are googly-eyed, and if half the squad is dug in, the rest aren’t going anywhere.

The hideout’s pretty cool. Zuko can appreciate the strategic genius of the location; the trees are _so_ tall and the canopy so thick that there’s very little chance of the Freedom Fighters (oh Agni what a stupid name) being discovered––firebenders like to be rooted, and that preference informs almost all of Fire Nation military tactics, so it’ll be a rare Fire Nation soldier that would think to look _up_ for his enemy. That speech, though... Zuko shivers and prays to Agni, Tui, La, and the Four Winds that his new squad has the sense to keep Zuko’s firebending confidential.

The next morning, Jet takes Zuko and Sokka out on a scouting mission. Sokka's trick with his knife in the tree is really clever, and Zuko would love to learn how it works. Once Sokka's more fluent in Yuyan hand-language–right now, he can barely contort his hands into the letters for finger-spelling. Sokka hisses that someone's approaching, and an elder steps shakily down the path in the trees. Sokka calls the false alarm, but Jet ignores him.

Great Agni and all the stars, the guy’s a _nutcase_. The elder he’s just assaulted was barely able to stand up without the cane Jet had swiped out from under him, and now he’s on the ground and Zuko has a rappel line ready but for once Sokka beats him to the punch, leaping from the perch like a diving eagle-hawk. The Water Tribe warrior catches Jet’s foot with his club as it swings towards the elder’s face, and Zuko lands behind his squad mate just as Jet snarls _“remember why you fight”_ in Sokka’s face. When they return to the hideout and Sokka tells Katara and Aang what had happened, Jet fucking _lies to their faces_ —if that elder had actually been an assassin, Zuko will snap his bow in half and join the Imperial Firebenders.

What really surprises Zuko is how all Katara needs to hear is "the guy was Fire Nation" and she immediately decides that regardless of whatever Jet had done to the guy, it must have been justified. She knows _he's_ Fire Nation. She _knows_ he's a firebender. There's a reason he's dressed in Earth Kingdom browns, and avoids looking anyone in the eye. Zuko trusted his new squad with his identity, but now, looking at the waterbender's cold blue eyes as she glares at Sokka, he wonders if that had been a mistake. Sokka finally storms out, grumbling about packing his things, and Zuko follows, feeling vaguely uneasy and wondering if he should do the same.

Zuko is awake at dawn (he is a firebender after all) so he clearly hears the whispers outside the hut. Sokka hears them as well, and without a word they both slip out and follow Jet and his cronies to a cliff overlooking a nearby village and the dam that protects it. The plan they over hear makes Zuko's blood run cold. Zuko knew Jet was bloodthirsty, but wiping out an entire village just to get rid of half a garrison’s worth of soldiers? Gaipan, Zuko remembers from reading pilfered reports back at the Stronghold, is barely worth the ink that marks it on the maps. Wiping it out wouldn’t do a single thing to uproot the Fire Nation’s foothold in the Earth Kingdom. And the guy’s bullshit excuse about _the demands of war_ makes Zuko want to either laugh hysterically or breathe fire. This kid has _no idea_ about the demands of war; he’s just lashing out at what he perceives as monsters.

But he’s too dangerous to be pitied, and too steeped in fear and rage to be reasoned with. When Sokka refuses to go along with their plan, and Zuko makes his opinion clear by spitting in the nutcase’s face with all of the precision trained into him by the Yuyan, Jet orders Pipsqueak and Smellerbee to take them on a “long walk”. Their hands are tied behind their backs, and Smellerbee jolts them into motion with the poke of a dagger. As they walk, Zuko is itching to fight; the odds are much better now that it’s two on two, even accounting for Pipsqueak’s size. But a single look from Sokka banks his fire. The Water Tribe warrior is subtly leading them in a specific direction, so subtly that even Zuko hadn’t noticed until just that moment.

Sokka suddenly speaks; it’s a signal, and Zuko watches carefully for signs of what to do. He knows that Sokka is going to break left the second the other boy shifts his weight, and they turn and run in unison, so suddenly that their captors are left behind to shout and give chase. Zuko immediately sees where Sokka is going with this—two of the same kinds of traps they had discovered yesterday are primed and waiting. The two Freedom Fighters bumble into the traps and get snapped up like hog-monkeys, and Zuko smirks as he easily snaps the shoddy vine-rope with a flex of his arms. Even spitting mad, a blush spreads across Smellerbee’s face, and Sokka laughs as he easily undoes his own bindings.

“While you’re up there and daydreaming about how ripped Zuko is, you might want to practice your knotwork,” he quips, and Zuko cuffs him under his stupid wolf-tail.

As they sprint back towards the hideout, Sokka breathlessly outlines his plan. There’s no time to argue, and Sokka isn’t yet advanced enough in Yuyan hand-language to understand him anyway, so Zuko agrees, and they pack up Appa’s saddle and race to the village. Zuko and Appa drop Sokka off to get the villagers evacuated, and then return to the hideout to pick up Aang and Katara.

Who aren’t in the hideout.

Shit.

It’s hard for Appa to punch his way through the forest’s dense canopy, and by the time they find a hole big enough for him to get through without scraping the saddle and half the fur off his back, they’re much farther from the reservoir than Zuko wants to be. They fly back as fast as Appa can manage, but the reservoir’s full, the blasting jelly is in place, and Zuko can hear a birdcall whistling through the air. Another call answers it.

A burning arrow arcs through the sky, too far away for Zuko to shoot it down. All he can do is watch.

The dam explodes.

The village floods.

_Agni, please let Sokka have gotten them out in time. Please let **Sokka** have gotten out in time._

Heartsick, burning with fury, he directs Appa over the flooded remains of the village, following the flow of the water. There are no bodies, but that means nothing. Until they round a bend, and then it means everything.

Sokka is waving his arms and jumping around like a maniac, grinning from ear to ear, jubilant in his plan’s success. Behind him stand the entirety of the village’s residents, Earth Kingdom natives and Fire Nation colonists and soldiers. Zuko returns Sokka’s grin, and holds out an arm for the other boy to hoist himself up on Appa’s head. Sokka waves to the people, and everyone but a few shell-shocked soldiers cheer. Zuko spots the elder from the day before, tears in his eyes as he bows shakily to the two boys.

They find Katara, Aang, and Jet just inside the treeline atop the cliff. Jet is frozen to a tree, and Katara is shouting at him furiously, tears flowing down her cheeks. Aang is sitting on the forest floor with his big, stormy gray eyes staring at Jet like the asshole had broken his heart. Zuko’s fury reignites at Aang’s expression, and he glares at Jet and wishes that he could roast the bastard to ash with the strength of his gaze alone. The flinch Jet can’t suppress at the sight of Zuko is satisfying enough, he supposes.

Aang and Katara climb into Appa’s saddle, Momo flutters down to wrap around Aang’s shoulders, and Sokka flicks the reins. The bison roars and lifts off, drowning out the furious, insane screams of the would-be terrorist of Gaipan. Looking at the faces of his squad, Zuko knows that this was a lesson that needed to be learned, but it was a cruel one, and he’s not looking forward to the debrief. For now, though, he’s content to act as comfort for shell-shocked Aang and miserable Katara, and smirk when Aang points out to Sokka that they’re flying the wrong way.

**Author's Note:**

> so that happened.
> 
> I'll admit, I wasn't planning on Zuko and Jet meeting so soon, but I kept thinking about it, and thinking about it, and finally I said ~~fuck~~ this, I do what I want. Also, this takes place about a week? two weeks? after Zuko joins the Gaang. So he's still figuring shit out.


End file.
